I looked hard at a few options to replace Rollins but drafted pitching instead. If Rico had been available I would have taken him. Actually if I hadn't been a dummy and noticed Joe Morgan sitting there I may have played him or Utley OOP.

Posted by sgsmith on 4/23/2013 1:44:00 PM (view original):A few players whose availability might be a pleasant surprise to their owners:

Some that have made it through a few times before:

Roy Halladay, Blue Jays
Javy Lopez, Braves
Bert Blyleven, Twins

One who has made it through only twice -- each of the last two legs:
Jimmy Rollins, Phillies

And one who made it through for the first time (usually protected for first or second round, but always drafted previous times unprotected):
Eric Davis, Reds

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I definitely would have taken Davis in the last round if my top native shortstop option were a bit better than Luis Aparicio.

Davis is a good one. Outfield is one of the few strengths for the Pirates, so I didn't even look that direction. I still don't think "out of position" much, perhaps could have used him at one of the corners.

His 1.12 whip is a little on the high side for a $120M theme. I decided to go with 3 regular starting pitchers (Marichal, Dierker, Santana) plus a spot starter (Kaat 120 innings of 1.01 whip). That gives me roughly 960 innings. But I rostered 8 relievers (630+ IPs), all of whom are theoretically better than Blyleven.

I don' expect a lot from this team, but in what is typically a weak division, something like 83-84 wins might be enough to get into the playoffs.